A proposal to strip the pensions of city workers who are convicted of felonies that violate the public trust is heading to committee.
Pushed by city Councilor Mike Rimcoski, councilors agreed this week to have the Ordinance Committee consider the proposal.
“The idea of sending a check to a state prison bothers me,” Rimcoski said.
Though the city hasn’t had an employee charged with a felony related to his job in decades, Rimcoski said he doesn’t want to see a situation develop here as it has in some other towns and on the state level.
He initially raised the idea last winter, but opted to wait to see if state lawmakers would act to ax pensions of government workers who wind up behind bars.
Rimcoski said nothing happened on the measure in the legislature -- lawmakers “are not doing much of anything,” he said -- so he’s pushing it on the city level.
When he raised the plan last winter, Rimcoski said it angers him to see state workers who are accused of crimes making a quick retirement to lock in their pensions.
"You shouldn't be sending pension checks to the prisons," Rimcoski said.
The issue has been bandied about since the massive scandal that rocked the administration of former Gov. John Rowland, who resigned in disgrace and spent time in federal prison for corruption.
There haven't been any significant scandals at City Hall, but other municipalities around the state have seen workers charged with serious crimes.
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
9 comments:
And what about the huge deficit Mike?
The pensions don't affect my taxes.
Get your priorities straight.
This issue shouldn't even be debated. The answer is yes strip away pension from convicted felons. Now move on to address the important issues....
Or, maybe, have the pension forfeit to the children of the convicted. There is no reason why they should have to suffer for their parents(usually fathers) mistakes. If the kid cares, maybe he might send some commissary.
Two years ago Rimcoski wanted the city to tackle illegal immigration, now this!
Is there anything relevant to the city Mike ever talks about?
Pretty soon being a Republican will be felonious.
This should fly thru. It is a no-brainer. Thanks for being pro-active Mike instead of waiting until it's too late & some felon ends up with a city pension.
Let me first start by saying, that I in no way condone the felonious acts of others and I'm not on the side of any convicted felons. That being said, I believe it would be wrong to take pensions away from convicted felons. These people presumably earned their pensions BEFORE they committed (or were convicted of committing) any crimes. The employee contributes a share to the pension fund out of their pay on a weekly basis. To take away their pensions would amount to a larceny on the part of the city. If the city is going to make a move like this, the proper way to do it would be to refund the felon any contributions made, up to the time of conviction, plus a reasonable amount of interest. This way, the city no longer has to contribute to the felon's pension and they have not taken away any rightfully earned monies. If it starts here, where will it end? This would set a scary precedent. The power to punitively punish criminals should be left to the courts.
It's already the law I understand and has been for over a year!
"This should fly thru. It is a no-brainer."
It's only a no-brainer for no-brainers like Mike and his fans. If the city can take the felon's pension away, why stop there? Why not raid his bank account, and maybe take his house too? And what about his kids, or his wife who need that pension to live on or pay for college? Yeah, it's a no-brainer all right.
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